Timing The Use of Scents

By Paul E. Moore

Hunting scents have become an important part of many whitetail deer hunter’s arsenal. They may range from cover scents, curiosity scents, doe-in-heat, tarsal gland, dominant buck, and so on. There are so many options available to today’s deer hunter that it would be easy for one to become overwhelmed or confused about what to use and when to use it.

There’s a time and place for everything. This phrase, although old, is very applicable to the use of scents. Not all scents will work all of the time. Some scents won’t work any of the time and others will only work at a particular time. But what makes them work? That’s a very penetrating question which many researchers and biologists are still trying to figure out.

Whitetail deer, although not intelligent by man’s standard, are not stupid animals. Granted, a lot of what they do is based on instinct and learned behavior. But this does not mean that they can’t figure out when something is amiss. Many hunters believe they can utilize scents in any manner they please and have desirable results. This philosophy does not always play itself out in the woods.

Doe-in-heat, tarsal, and other sex scents are very valuable tools for the hunter. There is a time to use them, though. Not coinciding the use of sex scents with the natural timing of the rut can often trigger a buck’s alarm system. Deer know when the rut is approaching and become very wary when this normal pattern is interrupted.

The best time to use lure is every time you’re in the woods. The same goes for using a grunt call, doe bellow, rattling, or a fawn distress call. These items are all a means of helping turn the odds a little in the favor of the hunter.

There is a right time to use the different scents and calls. Scent manufacturers advise holding off on using sex scents until pre-rut. That includes estrous scent until closer to the time of rut.

Hunting season opens well before rutting activity begins. The peak of the rut will not usually hit until sometime in November. It is the couple of weeks just prior to the peak of the rut that sex attractants are at their best. Prior to this, a curiosity scent is the most logical to use.

Many hunters don’t fully understand the peak of the rut. Most believe that when they see bucks chasing does all over the woods that it is the peak of the rut. That is actually just prior to the peak of the rut. At peak rut, most does in a given area are ready to breed and don’t necessarily have to be chased. They are in full estrous and willing to accept the buck’s advances.

Scrapes start showing up more frequently as the rut approaches. This is the buck’s way of "testing the water." He is putting out a calling card and saying to the does that he is looking for a date. When a hot doe urinates in the scrape she is accepting his offer. This is exactly what he is looking for and what brings him in searching for the source of the smell.

This pre-rut period is when he is most vulnerable to be fooled by a sex scent attractant. By applying estrous scent to the scrape or by making a mock scrape, a hunter can many times lure a buck into shooting range when he investigates the smell. Tarsal gland and dominant buck lure can also be used to stimulate a buck’s defensive mechanism. Dominant bucks are very aggressive toward other bucks trying to move in on their home range.

Many scent manufacturers advise going back to a curiosity scent after the rut passes. If all the does are not bred during the first rut, a secondary rut will take place about a month after the first. This time would be an excellent chance to take a late season buck with a sex attractant.

Using scents does not guarantee success. No one product can replace time spent scouting and woodsmanship.